immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. the "news nation" is following the campaigns grounding it out with 12 days ago. right now president obama on the ground in virginia. within the hour he's in chicago to vote early in his hometown, and earlier while in tampa the president again went after the gop over richard mourdock's remark that pregnancy from rate is, quote, something got intended. >> as we saw again this week, i don't think any politician in washington, most of whom are male, should be making health care decisions for women.

>> and mitt romney is campaigning all day in ohio hitting cincinnati this morning and columbus in the next hour. >> our campaign is about big things, because we happen to believe that america faces big challenges. we recognize this is a year with a big choice, and the americans want to see big changes and i'm going to bring it to this country. >> and ohio is exactly where the big number worth watching today is focused. "time" magazine has the president up by five points in the buckeye state. when you look at women voters in ohio, president obama is up by 19 points. in early voting president obama has a 2-1 advantage over governor romney in early voting. msnbc's joe scarborough says the new numbers scream advantage obama. >> if you were mitt romney running against barack obama's get out the vote machine, i

would say five points looks more like a mountain than a molehill. >> there's at least one poll from the ap that indicates the gop is closing the gap with women. the obama campaign is dismissing in latest number. let's bring in the "news nation" political panel. karen, thank you so much for your time. the paper just endorsed president obama. let me get to these numbers. campaign offices, since we're talking about grounding it out, the ground game, president obama in ohio, 131 campaign offices versus romney 39. florida, obama 104 campaign offices versus romney 48. iowa, obama 66, romney 13. but the boston team romney campaign enthusiastic about the number of people they contacted through e-mail and phone. they see some upside in their ground game there.

how do you size up what we see right now? >> first of all, everybody has all kinds of numbers they can throw at you. two things are pretty indisputable. one is is that the romney campaign's ground game is light years ahead of where john mccain's was four years ago. i also think that barack obama's is pretty far ahead of where barack obama was four years ago. so, you know, if this is an election that's going to be decided on the ground, i think at this point you give advantage obama. they've just got a deeper and broader ground operation, but i think what the romney campaign is hoping for is momentum. it can overwhelm the ground game. >> to your point, karen, let me play what john said. he agreed in a large part with what you were saying regarding the ground game. let me play what he said about romney's turnout operation. >> there is no romney turnout operation. it is all handled by the rnc. they're not doing it. they're really the romney operation is driven by how good

a state party's operation is and the national party within that state. there are some states where it's very good and some states where it's very poor. ohio, there's no question that the obama campaign has a better turnout operation. >> a.b., we're looking at ohio for the same reasons, no republican has won the white house without ohio. why the slow ground game when romney's campaign certainly believes it still has a fighting chance in ohio despite the new poll shows he's down by five points? >> that's a good question. i think that the fact that president obama's ground game is superior to mitt romney's is probably necessary because democrats are disappointed. many of them voted for president obama, and it didn't work out well. they don't want to vote for him again, although they might. on the other side, there's so many americans who know nothing about mitt romney but so angry they will vote for mitt romney without ever watching a debate. they don't necessarily need the

best ground operation everywhere. in a critical place like ohio, i would argue that romney should have had almost as many offices as president obama in order to put in thiz column for sure. >> some will vote for romney because they're so angry at the president. i don't think they would be described as independent voters. those people you are describing would likely be far right or leaning strongly to the right if they have that kind of visceral anger where it's simply voting against obama. are those the undecided independents we're talking about in the last 12 days? >> there are people that do not need to be called by the romney campaign. any don't need their door knocked on. they might not be republican. they might be independents that change their vote. they could have supported bush and were sick of the bush years and thought obama was this po post-partisan figure and he didn't out to be and the economy isn't where he thought it would.

they're excited to vote for romney because they want to beat the president. >> he followed him on the blitz of the battleground states and asked the president about the national polls showing this race that's very tight. >> how is it that with, what, 13 days to go you're fighting for your life in a 47-47 race? >> well, actually i think that, you know, we always knew this was a close race from the start. what we have right now is a lead that we've maintained throughout this campaign. >> so you have this new ap poll showing that the gender gap has closed. we know that some within your party dismissing that, pointing to battleground states where it's more favorable and the president explaining at least his view throughout this campaign. how do you see it, chris? why is it so close? >> well, i mean, i think it's close because voters are really split in terms of who they want

to support. it's that simple. you also have a very strange dynamic unique to the race where you have national polls that show a tied race, in some places a small lead for president obama or governor romney. in key battlegrounds the president is holding his lead, and that i think is very interesting in places like ohio. it's really simple. it isn't a demographic game in particular states. the president has a double-digit lead in ohio amongst women, and he has a five-point lead in ohio right now. it's difficult to see how governor romney wins the presidency. the bottom line -- this is what keeps me up at night is what i don't know the answer to is what is the turnout. if the turnout is closer to 2004, the democrats have a problem. if it's closer to 2008, we win. it's so critical for democrats to realize that coming out to vote is the difference. i know we like to say that, but that's the key.

>> i believe the number is around 7 million people that voted early, but just within the last couple of minutes brian williams was on and andy mitchell talking with a republican strategist noting that early votes is down for virginia. i believe the number in richmond county to your concern, chris, in virginia, 18% or between 16% and 18%. early voting down in virginia. >> yeah. here's what i would say to that. the early vote is going to be -- we're going to win the early vote. democrats will win the early vote, because we almost always win the early vote. over the next ten-plus days those late h-breakers, how do ty go? what finally motivates them to go in governor romney or president obama's direction? that's why you see this mad scramble in a clear focus on two or three states in the last week. that's why i think the president's team is very smart to focus on ohio. that really is the firewall. ohio goes, and we have a major

problem. i don't know how we win. if it stays, we win. >> it's interesting there's this new ad of 537, the number of votes that change the course of american history in florida. that's the new obama ad pointing out how every vote in the battleground states count. a.b., let me bring you back in on this. you have the other story line of the day. how the gop continues to handle or mishandle, if you will, this issue with senate candidate richard mourdock. john mccain said he needed an apology from mourdock or he would change his mind regarding his endorsement. a short time later he came back outside and said, no, no. i'm sticking with my endorsement. let me play what's happened here. >> do you still count yourself in his corner? >> it depends on what he does. i think it depends on what he does. if he apologizes and says he misspoke and he was wrong. when you don't own up it to it, people will not believe in you.

>> it's interesting. mourdock has not apologized. he said his words were twisted and his quote was that's what happens basically in washington. what do you make of how mccain handled this and other republicans? kelly ayotte says she won't campaign with him, and we know how important female voices are for both democrats and republicans? >> it's actually been split, tamron. i'm surprised. mccain has had this different reaction. senator ayotte said she can no longer came pain for him. congressman pence first said he should apologize and he kind of backtracked a bit. senator cornyn, who runs the senatorial committee for republicans is standing by richard mourdock and what he said and said it's true. they were up twisted. he feels the same way i do because i'm pro-life and so does

joe donnelly running against mourdock. it's a mixed reaction. i was just surprised that mitt romney would risk this kind of focus on something like this in the final days by saying he can still run my endorsement ad, even though i disagree with him. >> last night on rachel maddow's show, she talked about mourdock, but the larger picture of other men in the gop who have uttered similar -- that is not familiar. not similar things, because what he was esd he was absolutely despicable, but certainly questionable things in the party through legislation or even comments made in interviews. let me play what rachel said. >> richard mourdock now in the new republican party is not alone. in 2010 it was five republican senate candidates who wanted to force rape and incest victims to carry the pregnancies against their will because government would force them to do it. this year it's more than that. it's richard mourdock, rickberg in north dakota and baumgartner

and hookstra and tom smith and todd akin and josh man very well in ohio. several republican candidates hold that same position. >> today on the campaign trail the president is brings up the issue of all of these men making decisions for women. you heard the list from rachel maddow. will this mourdock situation perhaps turn into a national problem and, thus, affect mitt romney? >> i honestly don't think so. i think that it was a sort of -- it happened at air very difficult moment for mitt romney because his ads had just begun airing in indiana, the ads where he endorses mourdock. i think that people who are really voting on the choice issue one way or the other have already made up their minds and that, you know, these are not, i think, the undecided voters. i also think that mourdock's

comments, while a lot of people found them offensive, were not that different from the way a lot of right-to-life supporters rationalize not having this exception for rape and incest. >> it's interesting you see it that way. joe was on this morning, right-to-life. kelly ayotte and people within their own party. i heard this line before that this was a party part of the party platform, if it were that simple you wouldn't have people within the party, within the republican party set aside democrats who have been accused of taking political advantage of this who see this as objectionable language. >> i think if you look at the consistency argument, i think it's the people that are pro-life and would make the exception for rape and incest who sort of have the harder argument to make within the party. i think there was just a difference between the comment that mourdock made and, say, the todd akin kind of whacky science

and the differentiation between legitimate rape and whatever the other kind of rape is. >> chris, let me bring you in on the last note here. we have the new excerpts from a "rolling stone" interview with president obama. in the excerpt it says as we left the oval office, executive editor eric bates told obama he asked his 6-year-old daughter if there was anything she wanted him to say to the president. she said, tell him you can do it. obama grinned. you know, kids have good stikts offered obama. they look at the other guy and say, well that's a bull bleeper, i can tell. what do we make of this candid and colorful language from the president? we can assume he's referring to governor romney. what do you think? who was he talking about? >> well, i think it's pretty on obvious he's talking about governor romney. i find the language funny, and i

will not criticize anyone for saying such things because i'm known to speak colorfully at times. >> do you think it's funny, but would you think it was funny if governor romney used the same language fairly speaking? >> listen, i'm not sure many people will be shocked by this kind of language. >> the president did call kanye a jack-a so he's capable through association with rahm emanuel to mix it up in colorful language. i'm guilty of it myself. >> he's equal opportunity in his colorful remarks. >> thank you very much. i love that we have to say bull bleeper. we need a late night show so we can say the word. it's a pleasure to see you. thank you very much. up next, we go live to chicago. the president's next stop. i'll talk with jim warren about what he's hearing regarding the ground game for the president. what they're saying at the obama

headquarters. we're a fly on the wall. we're keeping an eye on hurricane sandy pounding cuba all morning and could threaten the east coast in a few days. this is a big story. today's "news nation" gut check, colin powell has endorsed president obama. does that matter to you? we'll play what mr. powell said and tell you how to weigh in. join our conversation on twitter. you can find us at @tamronhall or my team at @newsnation. what if there was a new way to deal with money that focused less on fees and more... on what matters? maybe your bank account is taking too much time and maybe it's costing too much money. introducing bluebird by american express and walmart. your alternative to checking and debit. it's loaded with features, not fees. because we think your money should stay where it belongs. with you. the value you expect.

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welcome back. real clear politics average of national polls shoi the race for the white house is still at a

dhed heat, 47%. on this same day four years ago, then senator obama led senator mccain 47-44. today president obama will become the first sitting u.s. president to vote early when he casts his ballot in chicago in a couple of hours from now. the president will join more than 7 million people who have already voted early, and it's these early ballots that team obama hopes will give them the edge as it did four years ago. let me bring in jim warren, chicago editor of "the daily beast" "newsweek." jim, great pleasure having you on. what are you hearing from folks in chicago? >> first of all, tamron, i did not know until a few minutes ago that you and rahm emanuel share a penchant for colorful language. >> everybody from texas curses. i just generalized my whole state. >> exclusively as hour ago the cook county clerk gave me their latest figure. 95,000 folks in cook county v t

voted early, which is a huge increase over 2008 when at this same point 67,000 had voted. what's that all about? for sure has something to do with folks having become more has been waited to voting early. it has something to do with the convenience of it all. it has something to do with many people having their minds made up. somewhere in the mix no doubt in a blue state is a mirror on to what is the far greater enthusiasm on the obama campaign than most county clerks around the country who did not believe there would be a big appreciable increase in early voting in this country this year. >> we've heard a lot of back and forth on that. albeit the number is up in chicago. we know, illinois is not where our eyes or attention are. it's interesting earlier, jim, phil musser is a republican strategist was on. he talked about early voting down in richmond county down 18%. in arlington county down 16% in

2008. republicans are focusing on low propensity voters and resonating romney's message at this point. what do you think of romney's ground game at this foint? >> it's apples and oranges with obama folks. they got their own criticism about spending way too much money too early in the campaign. you had republicans like karl rove bashing the obama campaign for the high burn rate about a year ago. i think what's going to be proving out is they were very smart in doing that. forget about virginia. look at the stuff where we can make apples-to-apples comparisons with democrats and republicans. iowa and north carolina are two vivid examples that the obama folks should click their heels. north carolina a lot more democrats out than republicans were in 2008. so i think so far it's an impressive ground game. it shows you in the social media

age, we're talking about old-fashioned precinct-to-precinct knocking on doors and leaflettings. they're doing a lot better than romney. >> you bring up iowa. we have 200,000 early votes so far. democrats 46%, gop 31.7, other 22%. so in the state that you just showed there, at least 400,000 people there in iowa already voting so far or voted. >> yeah. the obama folks are doing so well there, they might be a little nervous going, whoa, how can this about? so far it looks like the romney folks are really going to have to put on an old-fashioned last 72 hours surge as in the old days. up to this point we suggest that the obama folks' early money was very well spent. you can react like rahm emanuel if you'd like, tamron, and go

holy -- >> holy bleep. my mother is watching. i can't go too far. former president bill clinton hitting the campaign trail with president obama. mark your calendar. goes down on monday. while it may feel like a rush to the finish line, i'm going to talk with "new york times" writer mike oshear. he is this is a marathon, even at day 12, not a sprint. time for the "your business" entrepreneur of the week. he works renaissance fairs and haunted houses and nightclubs. he hocks from his bone shop cart selling bones and skulls. carney hooks, engaging and sells through performance and mirroring potential customer temperaments. for more watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. [ male announcer ] are you considering a new medicare plan?

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chances are, you're not made of money, so don't overpay for motorcycle insurance. geico, see how much you could save. we're following breaking news right now. a new update from the national hurricane center about a dangerous cat 2 storm that's expected to travel up the east coast. right now hurricane sandy is moving away from cuba where flood leveling are beginning to subside. jamaica and haiti reporting major damage and at least three deaths on those islands.

at this moment it's over the bahamas looming near florida. it will aavoid a direct hit, but there are concerns about what will happen further up the east coast. mike sidle is live near palm beach, florida. i wasn't expecting a sight so visual there. i don't have to ask you what's going on. what's the major concern? >> reporter: well, the timing is everything here, tamron. one of these storm squalls from outer reaches rolling in here across singer island. he visibility has come down and it's raining very hard. the temperature around 81, you can feel that drop now around 70. that cool downdraft air looking down the beach. the double red flags, not a whole lot of wind. they're sustained winds. we get a brush-by by sandy tonight and tomorrow. we'll have coastal issues with the wind, beach erosion and rip currents out of the water today, tomorrow and saturday.

no major preparations here in south florida from the palm beaches it to miami. they have taken in all the beach chairs and cabana stuff except on the beach. they'll probably pull it back later. the biggish suh uis what happens after it gets past florida. we have two models. the american model and the european model. the morning run of the american model came in. now it came around to that european solution, which is looked like gloom and doom. now we have the american model bringing the center in towards long island and up towards hartford sometime monday night and tuesday. in the european model it's coming in right now. i know this is technical, fwut if that shows the same thing and we see this trend and consistency in the model trends, it's all hands on deck. this could be a situation where millions lose power by the first of the week anywhere from d-.c. baltimore and philadelphia.

it could be an epic storm. we're watching what happens. a glancing blow heads up the coast. a lot of preparation time, but if you don't have a generator, tamron, you may want to get one. back to you. >> when people have lost power, particularly in the northeast in many cases it takes a week if not longer to get power. if this all plays out, this will happen right around the day that those who haven't gone out to early vote will be voting. >> reporter: yeah. this week and next week is the one-year anniversary of snowtober. over 3 million customers in connecticut lost power some for more than two weeks. there was a lot of follow-up there. stay with us, and we'll keep you updated. >> coming up, a federal investigation into potential voter intimidation in florida. details on fake letters that are being sent out to florida voters. we're going to give you all the

details on this one. it's one of those things we thought you should know today. first, here's "the new york times" nate silver's forecast how it will end up. he predicts 288 votes for president obama, 247 for governor romney. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] today, jason is here to volunteer to help those in need. when a twinge of back pain surprises him. morning starts in high spirits, but there's a growing pain in his lower back. as lines grow longer, his pain continues to linger. but after a long day of helping others, he gets some helpful advice. just two aleve have the strength to keep back pain away all day. today, jason chose aleve. just two pills for all day pain relief. try aleve d for strong, all day long sinus and headache relief. [ male announcer ] it's time for medicare open enrollment. are you ready? time to compare plans and see what's new. you don't have to make changes, but it's good to look.

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100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. can help make you a better investor. our e-trade 360 investing dashboard shows you where your money is, live. e-trade pro is so usable you'll actually use it. and our apps are the ultimate in mobile investing. become a better investor at e-trade. welcome back. today's gallup daily tracking poll out in the past hour. it shows governor romney maintains a three-point lead. there's no change from yesterday. more now on former secretary of state colin powell's endorsement today of president obama. it's the second straight election general powell has broken with his party. >> not only am i not comfortable with what governor romney is proposing for his economic plan, i have concerns about his views

on for win policy. the governor at the debate was saying things different than what he said earlier. i'm not sure which governor romney we get with respect to foreign policy. >> dominico, whether or not our audience thinking that this endorsement matters, we'll have the results tomorrow of the gut check. the bottom line is interesting. the comments made by general powell, specifically on which mitt romney you would get. that follows in line with what the obama team and criticism coming from the obama team has been regarding mitt romney on every issue, including foreign policy. >> we heard colin powell come out earlier this summer talking about how, you know, russia being the number one foe is not exactly correct as far as he was concerned. now, for the obama people, you know, this is a big sigh of relief that colin powell came out and endorsed him this time, because he had been hedging. he didn't say who he would

endorse already, and had he not endorsed president obama, it would be bigger news but certainly with some undecideds who like a foreign policy and think this is a good endorsement for the president. >> let's talk about a new battleground map. we'll reveal new numbers at 6:30 eastern time. what are you looking at? >> we're out west with colorado and nevada, and boy, i tell you, colorado, everyone thinks that it's as tight as pick your cliche. it's a play where you have independent-minded voters and all kinds of great story lines. in nevada we moved nevada to lean obama, and that's because of the hispanic vote out there and the democratic machine as you see some write about today. you know, we don't know where it will be just yet, but we know it's cliche that it's tight.

these two states are really critical to the president's path, if he weren't to win florida, ohio or virginia, deekd it. needs both colorado and nevada. >> thank you very much. can't wait to see the new numbers tonight around 6:30 eastern time. we'll talk about them as well tomorrow. more on florida and it's critical 29 electoral votes. that is where president obama made the first campaign appearance today in tampa. >> if you're willing to work with me and knock on some doors with me, make some phone calls with me, vote for me, we'll win hillsboro county again and win florida again and win this election again. >> well, the county the president mentioned is one of four key swing counties along what's called the i-4 corridor between tampa and daytona beach. they could decide which way the entire state goes.

joining me live now the political writer for the mia"mi heral herald". thanks for joining me. i want to ask bu the article in politico, palm beach county back in election spotlight. the florida county that brought us the hanging chad 12 years ago is in the midst of a electoral mess and the presidential election is two weeks away. the problem is 27,000 filled out absentee ballots in pauch beach county were misprinted and cannot be read by tabulation machines. what can you tell me about that? >> as a former reporter palm beach county, it doesn't shock me. a lot of bad stuff happens there quite often. they had many election meltdowns relatively recently. this sounds like an error to haunt susan booker, who is the palm beach county election supervisor. palm beach county has a bad reputation and bad luck whether it comes to elections.

overall what's interesting is the absentee pal lot numbers in general. more than 1 million floridians have voted by absentee ballots. that's probably more than 11% of the people voting through the election. the gop holds about a 5 percentage point edge around this time in 2008. they had a 15, 17 percentage point edge. the democrats are narrowing the gap and converting early voters to absentee ballot voters in order to make up for lost early voting days. >> tell me more about the president's comments regarding hillsboro and knocking on doors and he says we'll win hillsboro and florida again. a lot of pressure on his ground team in florida in general, but that county especially. >> well, yeah. what is kind of interesting about what he said is it's a pander to the folks in the tampa bay region. their campaign says they're not focusing on counties per se but on demographics. they need to get young people

out, black voters out and latinos voters and hispanic voters out. they lost the white vote by big margins in florida and the male vote. so they need women to come to their side. that's where you see them focus. florida is a strange state. the north is the deep south and the south of florida is the northeast and the midwest. where it all mixes together is in the i-4 corridor from tampa to orlando and daytona beach and that's where the battle is fought and won in the state. >> we know the distinction between the cuban-american influence and their support in large part to the republican party in that state, if that distinction is needed at this point. i do have to ask you about fairly the romney ground game in the state as well. >> well, you know, they say, look, we've made a lot of voter contacts. those are largely robocalls and mailers, but they're doing a good job of it. i'm a no party affiliation vo

voter. i got calms from the romney campaign and mailers and i don't get anything from the obama campaign. the romney campaign is reaching out to a broad spectrum of folks. i don't sense that at least personally from my perspective as much from the obama campaign. >> all right. well, we'll see what happens with the ground games from both. we know that at this point 12 days out, mark, that's what counts. certainly a lot interested in the palm beach county story with the ballots that can't be read by the machines. anytime you talk about florida and votes not tabulated properly, that is a hot one. >> i was here in 2000. we're familiar with election meltdowns and prepared for another one if it happens. >> no one will forget florida, and you didn't have to be there to remember it. thank you very much, mark. great pleasure. more now on the intense campaign schedules both candidates are

keeping, governor romney and president obama conveying the sense of urgency while on the trail. >> you notice my voice is getting a little hoarse. i just got to keep on keeping on. >> we're going to win on november 6th. >> we're going to pull an all-nighter. no sleep. >> we've had a number of debates lately. you know, they have really propelled our campaign. >> i believe in you. i need you to keep believing in me. >> the obama campaign is slipping and shrinking. >> but check this out. in the "new york times" caucus blog michael shear says there are dangers in this all-out sprint we're witnessing to the election. he writes wall-to-wall campaigning leads to an exhausted candidate and that can lead to sloppiness, mistakes and gaffes. it's 12 days out. do you stand the risk of making a mistake, but it's about the ground game. there are no more debates and

face-to-face meetings. why not sprint? why see it as a marathon at this point? >> they have to sprint. they have to convey both a sense of determination that they really want this. both of these camps arguing every wake they can to the reporters and public on cable tv that they're moving in the direction to win the race. people like to be with a winner and if you're wooing those few indecided voters, maybe by indicating you'll win will win them over. >> fr you were a supporter and watching boast both of the candidates, governor romney, president obama and if they did not appear to be in it to win it, people would certainly be grateful concerned saying that they don't have the momentum, kind the same narrative we saw in the first debate when some people interpreted the president as being low energy. if you're going to put it to the wall, it's right now. >> you can look back to past

elections, whether it's '96 or 2008 where one side or the other seemed to have a big lead and it the wasn't -- you know, there wasn't a lot of energy on the other side. it has a way of snowballing, and your supporters maybe don't come to the polls because they figure you don't have a chance anyways. both sides have to put out that message. we have two sides really close, so neither side does a positive message. they have to do a positive message and then also attack the other side. you have dual competing messages into the last moment. >> the gaffes. who can forget howard dean with the dean scream. that's what you listed there. right now it seems like both men very well-oiled machines regarding what they say on the campaign trail. are those undetermined variables we don't see coming, for example, this mourdock comment and the senate candidate out of indiana, republican, and it's not clear, you know, it if

governor romney is going to change his mind eventually and pull this ad. you have these variables unknown that can pop up, but as far as what they're saying on the campaign trail, it's a well-oiled machine for both of them. >> they're both disciplines but they're both human. the truth is for as tired as all of us are covering the race, the two guys at the center, they're even more tired. i'm not saying they will make a mistake, but they're just human. you know, days and days and days of running on little sleep and energy, it can produce something the campaigns don't want. >> stuff happens. great pleasure having you on. coming up i talk with colorado congressman diana dagett. >> women are going to make the difference in this laexz. >> the congresswoman was on the campaign trail with the president yesterday in colorado. i'll talk with her about women voters in her state in a lot of richard mourdock's rape remarks and the ground gain in colorado.

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welcome back. pick your cliche. it could be about colorado. right now the gop is leading colorado's early vote. republicans have cast 39% of the ballots, democrats 37%. let me in bring in colorado congresswoman diana dagett. a lot to it talk about. first, let's talk about the ground game. you have former colorado democratic party chairman. he's now an independent pole ster. he told t"the washington post" that president obama should be doing better, and he isn't. it's the worst swing state of the bunch of them according to this quote here. what is your take on the ground game there? >> well, i traveled around the state last weekend with a group of people, and i've been going to the early voting centers and to the staging areas. i've been involved in politics 30 years and never seen a better

ground game than the obama ground game in year. >> why is it so effective. why are you impressed this year especially over four years ago which is tremendous. >> it's better than four years ago. we have field offices, the obama campaign over 60 field offices throughout the state of colorado to roughly 19 that governor romney has. what that does is it lets people go out right into their communities and canvas and get the early votes. in some votes places, they had two or three times the number of people that they thought they would have to go canvassing. yesterday we had 16,000 people in denver. some went to the polls to vote right there. people were getting people out. really, i have never seen a better ground game than this obama ground game. >> you have with the president. you showed us earlier you weretic alreadily fired up regarding the remarks made by

richard mourdock the senate candidate out of indiana. he said his words were twisted. earlier senator john mccain demanded an apology or alluding to the fact he would take back his endorsement. that all changed. senator mccain is still endorsing. the ad features governor romney is all up in indiana. i say that to point out, though, there's one ap poll indicating that the gap between governor romney and president obama when it came to female voters was all but done, closed according to that new ap poll. combine those two stories, how does that affect women in colorado or the vote women present election day when this is happening in indiana? >> well, colorado has a tradition of defeating both ballot initiatives and candidates who take such extreme views as the ones richard mourdock said. two years ago michael bennett was elected to the senate

bucking the tide to colorado. he did it by appealing to women voters. his opponent took similar views to mourdock and governor romney and paul ryan. he supported this personhood amendment. he was against abortion even in the case of rape and incest. we won that senate seat because of this. these issues are all over the state of colorado right now. you know, the polling is not instantaneous, and i think you're going to see a real shift in these polls once women in particular start to realize it's not an isolated example with, for example, representative akin saying this. it's a pervasive view throughout the republican party, and don't forget, paul ryan has voted for her proposals in congress that say exactly this. >> congresswoman, thank you so much for your time. you've been busy, and perhaps not as busy as the president but

hanging in there yesterday in colorado. thank you very much. greatly appreciate your time. >> you're welcome. the "news nation" gut check was up next. it was a big deal with when colin powell broke rank to endorse president obama four years ago. will his endorsement this time around have the same effect? it's our gut check. it's swanson flavor boost. concentrated broth to add delicious flavor to your skillet dish in just one stir. mmm! [ female announcer ] cook, meet compliments. get recipes at flavorboost.com.

time for the gut check. earlier we told you how former secretary of state colin powell broke with his party one against this election and has endorsed president obama. so we want to know, what does your gut tell you? does general powell's endorsement make a difference to you this time around? go to facebook.com/newsnation to cast that big vote. we'll have the results tomorrow. that does it for this edition of "news nation." thank you for joining me and my team this entire hour. tomorrow we're joined by former pennsylvania governor ed rendell and anne kornbluth from "the

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